Winter Nights
by curlyk03
Summary: An encounter with an old lover. Life sweeps you away, and you forget to hold on. Future Fic. One Shot.


**Winter Nights**

**Curlyk03**

**PG**

**Enjoy!**

I run down the sidewalk to the grocery store trying to dodge the falling snowflakes. I quickly enter the building trying to remember everything I need for my late solitary Christmas Eve dinner. I'm not in a mood to cook anything elaborate so I head to the frozen foods section. A brown-haired woman is already there, deliberating her options carefully. As I walk closer I hear her mumbling to herself in that voice I know so well. Rory Gilmore.

I step closer to her and gently get her attention by touching her sleeve.

"Hi." I say, getting her full attention. She turns suddenly and looks at me. I give her a smile and she gives nothing back. Instead she looks at me confused as if she's racking her brain for who I am. Then her eyes flew open wide. She grins and throws her arms around me but drops her purse on the ground in the process. All of the contents fall out, displaying her world to everyone else. I drop to my knees to help her and as we reach for the same thing we start to laugh. She looks at me through her long eyelashes and sits on her heels taking me in.

"How've you been?" She asks me, breathing in, smiling. I nod.

"I've been alright. Been busy with tours. You?" She nods in agreement.

"Same here. I'm working for the New York Times now." My eyes show amazement. It seems like just yesterday she applied for a job and got rejected.

"You always were persistent. Congratulations."

"Thank you." A moment passes as I help her to her feet. "Do you want to…take a walk or something?" I look towards the windows.

"It's snowing." I state, dumbly.

"We'll sit in my car." I smile and nod.

"I'd like that." I turn to leave when she tries to pick up the heavy grocery basket. I shake my head.

"Let me help you." I pick it up with ease and we walk towards the checkout counter together. We place the items on the conveyer belt. I pick up a box of condoms from her basket and she hides her blush in embarrassment. The conversation stops for a few minutes. I nudge her and she smiles and laughs, shrugging. "Do you…do you have anything to do now? I know it's kind of late."

"Nope. Why?"

"You wouldn't want to get a drink or anything, would you?"

"I'd love to." I smile and pick up the bags she can't carry. We walk out to her car and I place them in her trunk and then join her in the front seat. We cruise around the town for awhile looking for an open bar but since it's Christmas Eve and nearing midnight, we couldn't find anything. My eyes gaze around outside looking for _something_. I point to an open liquor store. She nods comprehension—it seems that our ability to read each other still hasn't disappeared in all these years. We step back into the cold night air and jog into the store.

"What should we get?" She asks me.

"What are you in the mood for? Something sweet?" She purses her lips and shakes her head.

"Beer sound good?" I raise my eyebrows and follow her to refrigerators. She picks up two bottles of Budweiser. I nod in acceptance and we walk to the counter. The cashier is tired and effortlessly rings it up. I give the cashier a bill before Rory can attempt to pay. She sends me a look but says nothing. We walk out to her car. She turns on the car, and drives back to the grocery store. She leaves the car battery running so the heat can continue to surround us. She reaches for the bottles.

I pull one out for her and hand it to her. I take the other one and crack it open as she does. We each take a swig as we watch each other.

"So what have you been up to?"

"Oh you know, this and that. I start touring with my band in a week. We're playing Hartford first." She nods.

"Where are your band mates?"

"Celebrating Christmas with their significant others."

"Where's your significant other?" She sends it right back.

"Oh, you can't see her?" I joke. "I don't have one." She cocks an eyebrow.

"You, not having a girlfriend?" I laugh.

"Yea, just haven't met the right one yet. How about you? I see that wedding ring." She smiles and looks at it.

"Yup. He's an architect."

"Ambitious."

"Yea, he keeps us warm, safe, and dry. Pretty good, huh?" We laugh.

"I could've done that." Her smile falls as she looks up at me.

"You know it wouldn't of worked out, Tristan."

"I know, I just like to imagine sometimes." A moment passes. "Do you love him?" Our relationship—the old one at least, would've allowed me to ask. I'm not sure anymore where we stand. She looks at me surprised.

"I'd like to say I love him." She doesn't want to lie. "He's a steady guy." She explains lamely. Sensing the tension, I change topics.

"Well, you look great. The years haven't touched you. Your eyes are just as blue as I remember them." Her eyes sparkle again. I can't tell if she's grateful for the compliment or doubting it.

"Thanks." We fiddle around with our beer bottles. "You know, I saw you a few weeks ago. At the record store." I nod. I probably picked up a CD that had a song my band wanted to cover. "You look really good, also."

"Thanks."

"You're doing well then? I mean, you must be if you're going to tour the country."

"It's a world tour, actually." She looks impressed.

"You must love it then." Her voice catches a tone of jealousy.

"The crowds and support from the fans is amazing. Like heaven. I hate the traveling though. It's so hard to be jetlagged and perform for an hour and a half in front of thousands of people. No time to rest."

"I know what you mean." A moment of silence passes between us as we each take another swig. "How about a toast." She suggests. I shrug. Sounds good to me.

"A toast to innocence." I give her a questioning look. "It was always the innocence that got you." I laugh and nod.

"Fair enough. A toast to now." The large moon radiates light off her smiling face. We clink bottles and down some. She smiles at me. We're silent, lost in our thoughts.

"Times gotten away from us, huh?" I breathe.

"I miss us, Tristan." She turns her head to look at me.

"I miss it too." She takes my hand in hers. I look at the clock on her dashboard. It's after 2am. I wasn't sure where to go after this. I could declare my continued love for her, but she's married. It wouldn't be fair to do that to her. I don't know what she's thinking, but after all these years, I know that her facial expression signifies a battle going on within herself. I lean my head against the headrest.

"Rory, I should go. It's getting late." I sit up and she looks startled at my voice. She nods, sadly. I cup her cheek, affectionately. She leans towards me and I kiss her lips gently, reliving the many kisses we've shared. This one is no different. She kisses me back and we break apart.

"Just another 'auld lang syne', huh?" She smiles, wearily. I nod.

"Take care of yourself." She smiles at my words and nods.

"You to. Don't overwork it." She's referring to the tour. I nod and exit the car. I wave to her as she turns on her car and starts to drive away. Watching her taillights gain distance from me, I remember school. When everything was in place. When we were together and nothing could separate us. The old familiar pain hits me. I smile and touch my lips. I turn to my car and get in. I start the car and pull out as the snow turns into rain. As she always said, there's something about snow that makes everything so…magical. And my last thoughts before entering my bittersweet home is that our relationship has always and will always be an 'auld lang syne'. And despite my protesting heart, I convince myself I'm okay with that. Damn the snow.

**A/N: Okay, this is based off of the following song. It's by Dan Ferguson and is called, "Same Old Lang Syne". I have no legal rights towards this song, other than the right to listen to it. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this! More chapters and stuff to come. MWAH. Love, Kiki.**

_Met my old lover in the _

_Grocery store _

_The snow was falling Christmas Eve _

_I stole behind her in the _

_Frozen foods _

_And I touched her on the sleeve _

_She didn't recognize the _

_Face at first _

_But then her eyes flew _

_Open wide _

_She went to hug me and she _

_Spilled her purse _

_And we laughed until we cried. _

_We took her groceries to the _

_Checkout stand _

_The food was totaled up and _

_Bagged _

_We stood there lost in our _

_Embarrassment _

_As the conversation dragged. _

_We went to have ourselves _

_A drink or two _

_But couldn't find an open bar _

_We bought a six-pack at _

_The liquor store _

_And we drank it in her car. _

_We drank a toast to _

_Innocence _

_We drank a toast to now _

_And tried to reach beyond _

_The emptiness _

_But neither one knew how. _

_She said she'd married her _

_An architect _

_Who kept her warm and safe _

_And dry _

_She would have liked to say she _

_Loved the man _

_But she didn't like to lie. _

_I said the years had been a _

_Friend to her _

_And that her eyes were still _

_As blue _

_But in those eyes I wasn't _

_Sure if I saw _

_Doubt or gratitude. _

_She said she saw me in the _

_Record stores _

_And that I must be doing well _

_I said the audience was _

_Heavenly _

_But the traveling was hell. _

_We drank a toast to _

_Innocence _

_We drank a toast to now _

_And tried to reach beyond _

_The emptiness _

_But neither one knew how. _

_We drank a toast to innocence _

_We drank a toast to time _

_Reliving in our eloquence _

_Another 'auld lang syne'... _

_The beer was empty and our _

_Tongues were tired _

_And running out of things to say _

_She gave a kiss to me as I got out _

_And I watched her drive away. _

_Just for a moment I was _

_Back at school _

_And felt that old familiar pain _

_And as I turned to make _

_My way back home _

_The snow turned into rain_


End file.
